Rotary internal combustion engine

ABSTRACT

A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, the sides of said piston elements and the sides of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, and rod means for securing the center portion of the piston elements to the rotating shaft.

United States Patent 11 1 Ishida [451 Nov. 11, 1975 Choshichi Ishida, Osaka. Japan Ishida Industry Company, Limited, Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 386,290

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 19, 1972 Japan 47-93824 Oct. 19, 1972 Japan 47-104748 [52] US, 123/8.45; 123/73 AD; 418/122;

[51] Int. Cl. ...F02B 55/14; F01C 1/00; F01C 19/00 [5 Field of Search 418/100, 101, 122, 2-53, 418/270; 123/73 AD, 8.45

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 716,970 12/1902 Werner 418/253 1.087.387 2/1914 Lemp 123/73 AD 2,273,202 2/1942 Jackson 123/73 AD 2,397,457 3/1946 Krenzke l l 123/73 AD 3,155,081 11/1964 Gonzalez 418/122 3,295,505 1,1967 Jordan 418/253 3369.529 2/1968 Jordan 418/253 3387596 6/1968 Niemand 418/270 3,642,391 2/1972 Wilson 123/845 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 161,083 6/1905 Germany 123/847 Primary E.\'mninerlohn J. Vrablik Attorney, Agent, or FirmStewart and Kolasch, Ltd.

[57] ABSTRACT A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, the sides of said piston elements and the sides of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, and rod means for securing the center portion of the piston elements to the rotating shaft.

11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures US. Patent N0v.11, 1975 Sheet20f4 3,918,415

Sheet 3 of4 3,918,415

US. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 US. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 Sheet4 0f4 3,918,415

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE BACKGROUND 'ANDSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a rotary internal combustion engine wherein four piston elements are rotated in sliding contact inside an elliptical cylinder. The elliptical cylinder is formed by contacting both sides of an elliptical tube with a side plate, said elliptical tube containing a shape almost equal, in section, to a track ellipse which is concentric with the center of a regular quadrangle whose angles form a rhombus having sides of equal length.

Conventionally, various types of rotary engines have been developed which produce higher output, higher acceleration, greater revolution, and are lighter in weight. However, for some of the engines it has been difficult to produce a smoother rotation, while others possess incomplete sealing. Furthermore, the rotary engines which have been put into practical service have required complicated cylinder configurations, internally-contacting gears, rotating balancers, and the like, thus complicating the construction of the engines and increasing the manufacturing costs thereof.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary-internal combustion engine which is capable of producing higher output and higher acceleration by performing sixteen strokes per single rotation through the use of rotary pistons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smoother rotation of the rotor by pivotally disposing the rotary pistons in a mutually geometrical configura- "t'ion.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the four piston elements with the same shape and having cylinders of approximately an elliptical shape so that the construction thereof may be simplified and the number of parts substantially reduced. By simplifying the manufacturing aspects, a cost reduction can be achieved, thus enabling mass production to be realized.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; itgshould be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an elliptical cylinder in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing some of the essential elements of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic perspective views showing some additional essential elements of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 50, 5b, 5c and 5d illustrate the function of the rotary engine of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the rotary engine of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a further embodiment of the rotary engine of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

An elliptical cylinder 3, which is formed by closely contacting a side plate 2 to both sides of an elliptic tube 1, is provided with a shape which is almost equal, in section, to a track ellipse and which is concentric with the center of a regular quadrangle whose angles form a rhombus having sides of equal length. Furthermore, the elliptical cylinder is provided with numerous cooling fins 13 on its outer face. A rotor 5 pivotally supports both ends of the four piston elements 4 thereby forming the rhombus, and further pivotally supports both ends of a drive rod 14 at the central portion of mu tually opposing piston elements 4 of the rotor 5. A rotating shaft 15 is fixedly secured in the central portion of the drive rod 14. Furthermore, the other two piston elements 4, which do not pivotally support the drive rod 14, pivotally support both ends of a joint rod 16 at their respective opposing centers thereof. Thus, the rotor 5 is supported in the form of a parallelogram in any rotating angle by the drive rod 14 and the joint rod 16. The four piston pieces 4 are respectively provided with an elliptic arc-like peripheral side face and have respectively the same shape. The piston element has a circular pin-like pivot shaft 17 at its one end, and a pivot shaft receiving element 18 which matches the pivot shaft 17 at its other end, pivot shaft 17 normally being in close contact with the adjacent pivot shaft receiver 18. A flute 19 is provided in the pivot shaft receiving element 18, and an auxiliary sealing plate 21 is inserted through a leaf spring 20, into the flute 19 so that the plate 21 may be normally maintained in contact, under pressure with the convex-curved face of the pivot shaft 17. Also, a flute 22 is provided in the shaft 17 to permit a sealing plate 6 to be inserted, through a leaf spring '23,'into the flute 22. The rotor 5 is engaged inside the elliptical cylinder 3 so that the sealing plate 6 may be placed in sliding contact under pressure with the inner elliptical wall. Also, in FIG. 1 an ignition plug 9 is provided in the upper portion of the elliptical cylinder 3,'an exhaust pipe 8 is provided in the right lower portion, and an air inlet pipe 7 is provided in the left lower portion. The space between the exhaust pipe 8 and the air inlet pipe 7 is slightly greater than the space between adjacent sealing plates 6. In addition, the ignition plug 9 is not required when driving a Diesel engine having a greater compression ratio. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, a shaft hole 24 may be respectively bored in the center of the pivot shaft 17 and in the pivot shaft receiver 18, so that a U-shaped detachable shaft element 25 may be inserted into the respective shaft holes 24 thereby reinforcing the pivotal support between the pivot shaft receiver 18 and the pivot shaft 17. Furthermore, in order to allow the sliding contact between the piston element 4 and the side plate 2, a side sealing plate may be provided on both side end portions of the piston element 4 as in the case of the sealing plate 6. Also, a fuel gas supplying port 10, an air port 11 and a lubricating oil supplying port 12, respectively, are formed on the air inlet pipe 7, and a bumper 26 which can freely regulate the amount of air is provided on the air port 11. Also, in another preferred embodiment, a valve 27 for regulating the compressed air is mounted on the air hole 11, the valve being freely secured in any regulating point as shown in FIG. 3. Furthermore, a valve 28 can also be provided even on the lubricating oil supplying port 12. In a further preferred embodiment, the air port 11 and the lubricating oil supplying port 12 may be combined. through the use of an ordinary carburetor as shown in FIG. 4. Also, the fuel supplied from the fuel gas supply port is a L.P.G. gas such as butane, propane, etc. The lubricating oil being supplied from the lubricating oil supply port 12 is castor-oil, etc. The fuel gas and the lubricating oil can be introduced into the system from respective supply tanks, not shown.

The working stroke of a gas rotary engine in accordance with the present invention will be described by reference to FIG. 5. First of all, the clockwise rotation of the rotating shaft by an external force starts to rotate the rotor 5, thereby causing each piston element 4 to independently perform four strokes, i.e., suction, compression, explosion and exhaust. The function of one piston element A can be described as follows. As the piston element A moves from a position of FIG. 5a to a position of FIG. 5b, the space B formed by the piston piece A and the inner face of the elliptic cylinder 3 is gradually incresased. At this time, a mixture of gasoline, lubricating oil and air are sprayed, in atomizing form, from the air inlet pipe 7 into space B where said space is at a maximum as shown in FIG. 5b. Subsequently, the space B is gradually reduced as the piston element A moves from its position in FIG. 5b to its position in FIG. 5c. Accordingly, the gas mixture is gradually compressed, as the space B is decreased to a mini mum, as represented by the position of the piston in FIG. 5c. Thus, FIG. 5c represents the position of the piston when the gas mixture is under its maximum compression. At this time, the gas mixture is ignited by the ignition plug 9 and is exploded. The piston piece A is provided with a rotating drive force in its same direction by the explosion force and the space B is again increased to maximum at the position shown in FIG. 5d. Thus, the combustion exhaust gas is exhausted through the exhaust pipe 8 thereby completing the exhaust operation at the position shown in FIG. 5a. Thus, the four strokes are repeated in the same manner as described hereinabove. The other piston elements also sequentially perform a similar operation with a time lag. However, the rotation of one piston element 4 is transmitted as the rotating force for all the other piston elements 4, thereby causing the rotating shaft 15 to rotate with the rotation of the rotor 5.

FIG. 6 is another embodiment in accordance with the present invention. The piston element 4 is provided with an elliptic arc-like peripheral side face. Four piston elements are, respectively, the same in shape. Each piston element has a circular arc-like (in section) pivot shaft 50 at its one end, and a bay-shaped grip 51 at its other end which engagingly and pivotally supports the pivot shaft 50. The distance between the center of the pivot shaft 50 and the center of the bay-like grip 51 is slightly smaller than the length of one side of the regular quadrangle. A coupling receiver 54 is provided on the central inner side of the piston. The rotor 52 has the shape of a variable rhombus by sequentially engaging, in a ring shape, the pivot shaft 50 of one piston element 4 with the bay-like grip 51 of the other piston element 4. The cross angle of mutually adjacent piston elements 4 varies freely. Also, airtightness is maintained inside and outside of the rotor 52 in the splicing curve face between the pivot shaft 50 and the bay-like grip 51. A sealing plate 53 is inserted through a spring plate 61, in to a flute bored in the pivot shaft 50 of the piston element 4 so that it may slidably contact the inner periphery of the elliptic cylinder 3. A pivot moving rod 55 engages circular arc-like (in section) shafts 56 at both ends with the coupling receiver 54 of the mutuallyopposing piston elements 4 thereby pivotally supporting the piston element. A rotating shaft 57 is secured to its central boss 62 by means of a key 63. The other two piston elements 4, which are not pivotally supported by the pivot moving rod 55 are connected to the coupling receivers 54 in the central portion of each piston by means of a joint rod 64 in the same way as the pivot moving rod 55, thereby pivotally supporting a boss, which is provided in the center of the joint rod 64, on the rotating shaft 57. Also, an ignition plug 65 is provided above the elliptic cylinder 3, an exhaust port 59 is provided in the lower right portion, and an air inlet port 58 is provided in the lower left portion. The distance between the exhaust port 59 and the air inlet port 58 is slightly greater than the distance between the adjacent sealing plates 53. Furthermore, the ignition plug 65 is not required in the case of a Diesel engine of a greater compression ratio. A water-cooling type by installation, e.g., a water jacket, (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface of the engine apparatus thus formed, or air-cooling may be provided through the use of fins (not shown). The action of the rotary internal combustion engine is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a further embodiment in accordance with the present invention, and in this embodiment, two internal combustion engines E and E as shown in FIG. 1, are utilized and two engine bodies are provided on opposite sides of the rotary shaft 57 by perpendicularly intersecting the longer diameter of the two elliptical cylinders 3, 3 of said combustion engine.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

It is claimed:

1. A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, the sides of said piston elements and the sides of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, wherein each piston element contains a circular arc-like convex pivot shaft at one end and a concave bay-like grip at the other end, the pivot shaft of one piston element pivotally engaging the bay-like grip of another piston element to form a variable rhombus rotor, and rod means for securing the center portion ot the piston elements to the rotating shaft.

2. A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, each of said four piston elements having a convex face pivot shaft at its one end portion and a concave-like face pivot shaft receiver portion at its other end portion, each of said convex and concave portions of each piston element being mutually engageable, respectively, with the concave and convex portions of the end portions of adjacent piston elements to form said variable rhombus rotor, said rotor being disposed inside the elliptical cylinder and containing a first sealing plate which projects elastically from the four corners of the rotor, said rotor being in sliding engagement with the elliptical cylinder, a second sealing means elastically extending from the pivot shaft receiver of the piston element, said second sealing means being in sliding contact with the convex face of the pivot shaft and providing sealing between adjacent end portions of the. respective piston elements, a U-shaped detachable shaft element slidably inserted into holes provided in end portions of adjacent piston elements thereby reinforcing the pivotal supports between the pivot shaft receiver and the pivot shaft of adjacent piston elements, the side of said piston elements and the side of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, and rod means for securing the center portion of the piston elements to the rotating shaft.

3. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein a sealing plate extends from the end of the piston element, said sealing plate being maintained in sliding contact, under pressure, with the peripheral inner face of the elliptical cylinder face of the elliptical cylinder by inclining the sealing plate in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotor.

4. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein two internal combustion engines are utilized and two engine bodies are provided on opposite sides of the rotating shaft by perpendicularly intersecting the longer diameter of the two elliptical cylinders of said combustion engines.

5. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein the elliptical cylinder is formed by placing a side plate in contact with both sides of an elliptical tube which has the shape, substantially equal in section, to a track ellipse.

6. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein the elliptical cylinder is provided with cooling fins.

7. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein an air inlet pipe, an exhaust pipe and an ignition plug are in communication with the chambers defined by the pistons and the internal wall of the elliptical cylinder.

8. The internal combustion engine of claim 7, wherein a fuel gas supply port, an air port and a lubricating oil supply port are provided in communication with the air inlet pipe.

9. The internal combustion engine of claim 8, wherein the air port and the lubricating oil port are combined with a carburetor.

10. The internal combustion engine of claim 8, wherein a regulating valve is associated with the air port.

11. The internal combustion engine of claim 10, wherein a regulating valve is associated with the oil supply port. 

1. A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, the sides of said piston elements and the sides of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, wherein each piston element contains a circular arc-like convex pivot shaft at one end and a concave bay-like grip at the other end, the pivot shaft of one piston element pivotally engaging the bay-like grip of another piston element to form a variable rhombus rotor, and rod means for securing the center portion ot the piston elements to the rotating shaft.
 2. A rotary internal combustion engine which comprises an elliptical cylinder, four piston elements operatively associated with each other to form a rotor in the shape of a regular quadrangle having angles which form a rhombus with sides of substantially equal length, said elliptical cylinder being concentric with a rotating shaft disposed in the center of said regular quadrangle, each of said four piston elements having a convex face pivot shaft at its one end portion and a concave-like face pivot shaft receiver portion at its other end portion, each of said convex and concave portions of each piston element being mutually engageable, respectively, with the concave and convex portions of the end portions of adjacent piston elements to form said variable rhombus rotor, said rotor being disposed inside the elliptical cylinder and containing a first sealing plate which projects elastically from the four corners of the rotor, said rotor being in sliding engagement with the elliptical cylinder, a second sealing means elastically extending from the pivot shaft receiver of the piston element, said second sealing means being in sliding contact with the convex face of the pivot shaft and providing sealing between adjacent end portions of the respective piston elements, a U-shaped detachable shaft element slidably inserted into holes provided in end portions of adjacent piston elements thereby reinforcing the pivotal supports between the pivot shaft receiver and the pivot shaft of adjacent piston elements, the side of said piston elements and the side of the elliptical cylinder defining a plurality of chambers therebetween which extend between the respective verticies of the angles forming the regular quadrangle, and rod means for securing the center portion of the piston elements to the rotating shaft.
 3. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein a sealing plate extends from the end of the piston element, said sealing plate being maintained in sliding contact, under pressure, with the peripheral inner face of the elliptical cylinder face of the elliptical cylinder by inclining the sealing plate in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotor.
 4. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein two internal combustion engines are utilized and two engine bodies are provided on opposite sides of the rotating shaft by perpendicularly intersecting the longer diameter of the two elliptical cylinders of said combustion engines.
 5. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein the elliptical cylinder is formed by placing a side plate in contact with both sides of an elliptical tube which has the shape, substantially equal in section, to a track ellipse.
 6. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein the elliptical cylinder is provided with cooling fins.
 7. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein an air inlet pipe, an exhaust pipe and an ignition plug are in communication with the chambers defined by the pistons and the internal wall of the elliptical cylinder.
 8. The internal combustion engine of claim 7, wherein a fuel gas supply port, an air port and a lubricating oil supply port are provided in communication with the air inlet pipe.
 9. The internal combustion engine of claim 8, wherein the air port and the lubricating oil port are combined with a carburetor.
 10. The internal combustion engine of claim 8, wherein a regulating valve is associated with the air port.
 11. The internal combustion engine of claim 10, wherein a regulating valve is associated with the oil supply port. 